Belfast, Ireland (Novara) – On 23 December 2014 the Stormont House Agreement was published, marking the conclusion of 11 weeks of talks between the Northern Ireland Executive and the governments of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The talks…

International human rights group Reprieve wrote to Stormont’s Economy Minister, Simon Hamilton MLA, warning that a Northern Irish government-owned company, NI-CO, was involved in security and justice programmes that risked complicity in torture and death sentences in the Middle East. In his reply, the Minister refused to step in, claiming that responsibility lies with the UK Foreign Office and the European Union, who fund the multi-million pound projects.

However, NI-CO’s chief executive is ultimately responsible to the Economy’s Department permanent secretary, according to an official report. Last month, UK Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood failed to tell Parliament, when asked, whether he had warned the Northern Ireland Executive about the risks involved in NI-CO’s work.

On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom held a referendum on whether the nation should leave the European Union. This historic vote resulted in an unexpected victory for the Leave side, giving the government a mandate to start negotiations to leave the EU. Immediately following this news, financial markets and the Pound Sterling plummeted causing financial chaos around the globe. This reaction demonstrates that the international community is fearful about the impacts of a Brexit. As a result, it is worth exploring the impacts that it is likely to have.

The campaign season leading up to Brexit referendum was arduous and marred by deliberate misinformation, xenophobia, and nativism. After this campaign, the referendum resulted in an unexpected victory for the Leave side, which won 52% of the vote. However, this referendum, which was not legally binding, does not automatically withdraw the UK from the European Union. In order to withdraw, the UK will need a majority vote in Parliament to repeal the web of legislation that allowed the UK to accede to the EU. In addition, the UK will need to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to formally withdraw from the EU. Once Article 50 is invoked the UK will have two years to negotiate the terms of its departure.

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